Sunday, September 10, 2017

It’s
Sunday again, the second Sunday in September, which means that here
at Beyond Romance, it is Charity Sunday.

Let
me explain how this works, in case you are new to my blog. One Sunday
a month, I feature a particular charity that is important to me
personally. I’ll tell you a bit about what they do and give you
links so you can find out more. Then I’ll share an excerpt from one
of my stories (just to keep things entertaining) and ask for your
opinion in a comment.

For
every comment I receive, I will donate $1 to the month’s charity.

Thanks
to everyone who commented last month. I rounded up the number of
comments and donated $20 to Oxfam. At that time, an anonymous donor
was matching all contributions, so thanks to you, mine was doubled to
$40. That might not seem like much, but if every one of us gave that
much, we could eradicate hunger.

In
any case, my selected charity this month is Amnesty
International, a worldwide organization that has been working for
human rights for more than fifty years. You may be familiar with
Amnesty’s grass-roots letter writing campaigns to free prisoners of
conscience—individuals
who are imprisoned solely because of their political or religious
beliefs. Unfortunately, there are thousands of such people around the
world. The organization also works to eradicate torture and capital
punishment, and advocates for the rights of women and minorities.

Given
the natural disasters currently afflicting the globe (hurricanes in
the Atlantic, earthquakes in Mexico, devastating floods in India and
Nepal, and so on) you may wonder why I am not focusing on some relief
charity like the Red Cross. To be honest, I believe that worldwide,
crises in human rights are more serious, and ultimately affect
everyone, not just people in vulnerable locations. In many countries
(and not just in the so-called “third world”), we can see a
disturbing trend towards totalitarianism, a lack of accountability
and a total disregard for fundamental human rights. Human rights
abuse in one country, if allowed to persist, encourages other
governments or groups to follow suit. This phenomenon is insidious
and dangerous, but much less flashy and obvious than smashed houses
or submerged hospitals. Amnesty International shines the light of
conscience on the inhumane practices that are all too common these
days.

Anyway,
if you believe that it is important to treat human beings—all human
beings— with compassion, respect and dignity, I hope you’ll leave
a comment below. As it happens, Amnesty also has a donor matching
contributions during the month of September, so every comment means
$2 for human rights.

For
this month’s excerpt, I’ve gone back to my short story “Refuge”,
which is clearly relevant to my charity. This story is available in
the altruistic anthology Coming Together: At Last (V1), which
as it happens also supports Amnesty International. So if you buy a
copy, you’re contributing twice!

The
story is a romance between a woman from an ethnic minority in
Myanmar, who is living in a refugee camp on the Thai border, and a
Thai soldier assigned to the camp.

Here’s
a (non-erotic) snippet. Please do leave me a comment and do a bit for
human rights.

She
raised her eyes. I was startled to see that they were dark blue, like
dusk behind the mountains. Also they were glistening with tears. “I
need to ask your help again. Something much more serious.”

On
impulse, I grasped her hands, gently releasing her tense grip. Her
nails were bitten down to the quick. The creases in her palms were
embedded with grime. Nevertheless, her skin was deliciously soft.
Sympathetic tears pricked at my eyes. “What is it? How can I help
you?”

“It’s
Su. One of the children. She’s very sick. Diarrhea and a high
fever.”

“Did
you bring her to the infirmary?”

“They
said it was probably just some bad fish. That they couldn’t do
anything. I think she needs to go to the hospital. She’s burning
up.”

“The
hospital? In Mae Sot? That’s more than two hours away!”

“I
went to ask the commander for permission to take her. He wouldn’t
even let me into his office.” She tried to kneel before me. I
stopped her, terribly embarrassed, not to mention worried that
someone would see her. “Please, Khun Nu. She’s much worse today
than she was last night. She doesn’t even know who I am.”

What
can I do? I started to answer. I can’t do anything. I’m
practically a prisoner here myself. But the desperation and hope I
saw mingled in her face stopped my voice.

“We
would need a jeep...” I remembered when the commander sent Kai and
me to town, a month ago, to pick up mail and supplies. Maybe I could
convince him that we needed to make another run. “Let me see what I
can do and I’ll let you know. Where can I find you?”

“If
you can get a jeep, tie this around one of the supports on the water
tower.” She held out the shoelace that had been securing her
ponytail. It has once been red. Her jet locks flowed over her
shoulders in a shimmering cascade. A lump gathered in my chest as I
gazed at her, so small and vulnerable, so brave. “I’ll meet you
at the turn off for Baan Huay Bua, half a kilometer along the road.
Around noon.”

“But
how...?”

She
smiled. “There are exits. Gaps in the barbed wire. Places where
it’s rusted away. We all know them.”

“Where
would I go? My village across the border? It’s gone, burned to the
ground by the generals’ thugs. My parents were murdered. My sisters
were raped. I have no idea where they are now. Without an identity
card, I couldn’t get a decent job. Oh, maybe I could make it to
Bangkok or Phuket and work in a bar. Flirt in exchange for drinks.
Have sex with tourists. Would that really be any less of a prison
than here?”

Minds of erotic writers always filled with love, affection and compassion. Your concept for charity certainly displays your attitude for less fortunate people of the world. Natural calamity occurs everywhere and this is some sort of warning or punishment for our misdoing our deeds against the nature. Still then our unity at this time of calamityredndering small help will certainly calm down the natural forces. Because science has taught us for every action there will be reaction in equal in magnitude but opposite in direction.